Free The Protectors: Book 1 in the Protectors Saga by Paige Dooling Page A

hair,
attempting to collect herself and her thoughts.
    “You know they could not.” Gumptin told her softly,
“They could not risk anyone or anything finding out. Plus,” he
added, almost absentmindedly, “you truly needed to be given a
normal life.”
    That was one of the problems Avery was struggling
with; all she knew was a normal life, and it wasn’t a bad life.
Now, here was Gumptin, the Wizard gnome, telling her that she’d
have to leave everything she knew, to become the warrior she didn’t
remember being, to fight the thing that had apparently already
killed her once before. She wished her parents could have at least
prepared her to accept the fact that her cozy little life was just
temporary.
    Avery wiped at her eyes, making sure to stop the
tears before they had a chance to spring out. She didn’t know
Gumptin well enough yet to allow herself to cry in front of
him,
    “Gumptin,” Avery said, her voice slightly strained,
“I don’t remember anything .”
    “I really do not believe you shall ever get your
memory back.” Gumptin shook his head, “It was one of the prices for
bringing you back to life.”
    Even though, Avery was acutely aware Gumptin said one of the prices, she decided it was best not to bring that
up at the moment. She decided to ask him about it later when her
head stopped spinning.
    “But, now,” Gumptin said, standing up, “we must go
back to Earth and fetch the other Protectors.”
    Gumptin walked through the village entrance and back
onto the main road, headed back towards the Gateway.
    “Wait a second!” Avery shouted, running to catch up
with him, “You still haven’t told me who the other Protectors
are.”
    Gumptin stopped mid-stride, “Have I not?” He asked
Avery, and she shook her head, no.
    “Well, that is because I figured you would have
already guessed it.” He told her, “They are Jade Kai, Skylar Bavol,
Sasha Seraphina, and Bunny Claiborne.”
    Of course, Avery thought as realization hit her like
a lightning bolt. That was why their parents were always forcing
them together, always making sure they did things as a group. From
before they could speak, their parents had been preparing them to
be a unit.
    The thought of Sasha flashed into Avery’s mind, and
the idea of being the leader didn’t seem so daunting anymore;
because, if there was one thing Avery had longed to do all her
life, it was to boss around Sasha Seraphina.
    Avery’s mind then began to drift towards another
girl, “Hey, Gumptin,” She told him, “when we get back to Earth I
know who we’re going to go tell first.”
    “No!” Was all Gumptin said, and he picked up his
pace.
    “What?!” Avery asked, wondering why she had been so
easily shot down, “Why?”
    “Because I know who you are referring to,” Gumptin
told Avery, “and I am not going to deal with her until the very
last moment that I have to.”
    Avery raised her arms in frustration, “How could you
possibly know who I’m referring to?! I’m just telling you that I
know which Protector I want to tell first.”
    “And I am telling you no, no, no, no!” Gumptin picked
up his pace even more so that he was almost at a run.
    Avery watched him scurrying away down the road and
let a huge smile break out on her face. She would let Gumptin
protest as much as he wanted and act as childish as he wanted. All
the while, she would revel in the knowledge that she and her car
were going to be Gumptin’s only mode of transportation back on
Earth.
     
    3.
    Jade Kai lived in the Rebel Moon Trailer Park,
located on the far outskirts of town. It was a short fifteen minute
drive through desert landscape down a two lane highway before Avery
and Gumptin would reach the turn-off for the trailer park, marked
by its old beat up blue and yellow sign, which hadn’t been updated
since the sixties, standing large and tall, guiding people to the
entrance.
    Avery rolled down the window of her old Challenger to
let the desert wind blow warm on her